But Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School who served as a civil rights lawyer in the Obama administration, said career lawyers in the department will be motivated to carry out a thorough hate-crimes investigation.
Levitt said that Asian American leaders are justified in calling the case a hate crime that has frightened the local community. By contrast, he said, “DOJ is there not to decide whether this is or is not a hate crime, but whether the facts can establish beyond a reasonable doubt whether this is a hate crime — which is different. These can be the kinds of cases that leave a community more distraught if they do not get what they feel is the right intuitive answer.”
Source: Washington Post
Atlanta Shootings Present Test for Biden’s Administration As Pressure Mounts to Pursue Hate Crime Charges